The Emotional Brilliance concept arose while Helen was developing spa treatments with the Lush inventions team.

'We were creating these treatments with the idea of working on both the mind and the body in a therapeutic way," says Lady Helen. “During the development of what would become our multisensory spa treatment, Synaesthesia, I took home and tried many essential oils to gauge their effects on my moods and behaviour over an extended period of time.'

'This really heightened my self-awareness of how various actions, as well as scents, were making me feel. When I was applying make up, I found I was paying closer attention to what I was wearing and how I was feeling.'

This newly-heightened awareness inspired a new approach to make-up.

The Words

“The ancestor to every action is a thought.” – Ralph Waldo Emmerson

Emotional Brilliance was created to be more than just makeup; the colours represent a range of different moods.

Lady Helen explains: 'I chose words that people are looking for at a deep, personal level. We began by looking for positive and encouraging words such as 'happiness', 'calm', 'focus' – all things I know people are looking for and come to see me about, such as ‘I want to fulfil my dreams’, ‘I want to stand on my own two feet’, ‘I want to be confident’ and so on.'

'We then asked people from all over the business to choose from a colour chart the shade they felt best represented a particular word. Time and time again, people would go for similar colours for each word. The final colour chosen to become the make-up was invariably one that was picked many times over.'

The results

'Ultimately, it’s not about using complicated words, or what the words mean. What is clever is realising what that word means to that particular person. The power of these words is that you get out of them what you need.'

'This Emotional Brilliance is about you, and how you feel from the inside, and how when you feel good inside, it starts to show outwardly. When you focus your attention on positive things and beautiful emotions, you’re going to have lots of laughing, lots of smiling, and a lots of emotional brilliance.'